Brent Jones

Data Visual Specialist

Brent Jones is a journalist who works with data and design. He joined the St. Louis Beacon after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism from Southern Illinois University Carbondale in 2007. In the past five years, he has shot photos of the Pevely Dairy fire and flooding in Cairo, Ill.; compiled data on St. Louis' hottest days and whitest Christmases; edited a 30-minute video on music in Iraq; designed a 150+ page ebook; and produced audio from an improv show and more than 100 Beacon Roundtables. Jones lives in St. Louis, where he has completed a half- and full marathon and sings in a 16-member a capella madrigal ensemble.

Ways To Connect

Financial disclosures aren’t just for political candidates. New data released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services shows that Missouri doctors received at least $71.9 million from medical device and drug companies in 2014 and the latter half of 2013. Illinois doctors pulled in $104 million during that same time period, many of whom hail from the Chicago area.

St. Charles County continues to lead the region in growth, increasing by about 1.5 percent since 2013 to nearly 380,000 residents in 2014. Its increase of more than 5 percent since 2010 leads the region and ranks 5th in the state. That's according to the newest population estimates released by the U.S. Census.

The region as a whole — Franklin, Jefferson, Lincoln, St. Charles, St. Louis and Warren counties as well as St. Louis city in Missouri, and St. Clair and Madison counties in Illinois — grew slightly, but is still just over 2.6 million as it has been since 2010.

An NPR report shows Missouri's high school graduation rate increased five percentage points between 2011 and 2013, good enough to rank 10th in the country. But that number may not tell the whole story.

Seventy-nine municipal courts give the small towns and cities of St. Louis County significant autonomy in judging minor infractions as such speeding tickets, tall weeds or zoning violations. The judges and prosecutors work part time — in smaller jurisdictions, just two or three times a month for a few hundred dollars per each municipal court session.

So you have relatives in town, kids that need to get out and about or you just need to stretch your legs and decompress.

The Garden Glow Light Exhibit at the Missouri Botanical Garden has been a favorite with members of our staff. It is not open Christmas, but is Dec. 26-Jan. 3 – though not New Year’s Eve -- from 5:30-9:30. A recommendation: Get tickets in advance.

You hear them year-round but can you identify the people behind the microphone?

We’ve taken Clement Clarke Moore’s classic poem, “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” most commonly known as "The Night Before Christmas," and had a different St. Louis Public Radio voice record each of the 14 verses.

Our new map compiles information about the protests and violent unrest that erupted last week. The actions began Monday, Nov. 24, after St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Robert McCulloch announced the grand jury's decision not to indict Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson for shooting 18-year-old Michael Brown to death.

In the following week, protests continued in Ferguson, Clayton, St. Louis and various other locales, including several shopping centers.

St. Louis County Prosecutor Bob McCulloch released more than 5,000 pages of testimony, forensic evidence and investigative reports after announcing that there would be no indictment of officer Darren Wilson.

We've spent the past few days combing through the documents and found several things that raised our eyebrows.

1. In the initial investigative report, Wilson said he only shot once in the car. He told the grand jury it was twice.

Look here for grand jury testimony released by St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Bob McCulloch after the jurors decided not to charge Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson August 9.

If it weren’t for voters in north St. Louis County, Democrat Steve Stenger wouldn’t have won the tight Nov. 4 contest for county executive.

Stenger lost most of his home turf in south St. Louis County to Republican Rick Stream.

Stenger carried north county strongly, but the percentage was far less than County Executive Charlie Dooley's performance in 201o. Even so, Stenger's north county showing -- despite opposition from north county Democrats -- proved crucial to victory.

Lobbyists have paid for more than $130,000 worth of Cardinals tickets and baseball snacks for Missouri lawmakers since 2007, according to our analysis of the data. Here are the top five post-season games they went to, as well as who has received the tickets, and who has paid for it.

Every year, the U.S. Census Bureau releases an annual survey of population characteristics for metro areas throughout the United States. Because sample sizes are limited, each data point included here will have a margin of error. You can peruse the data yourselfhere.

Missouri prison officials said under oath that they would not use midazolam in executions. But a St. Louis Public Radio investigation revealed last week that the state has used it in nine executions since 2013.

Normandy's annual performance score sank even lower than before, down to 7.1 percent of the possible points scored, lowest in the state.

State education officials have been working in the district for weeks, putting into place new techniques designed to improve academic achievement in the district, which was taken over by the state on July 1.

While the killing of Michael Brown on Aug. 9 by Ferguson Police Officer Darren Wilson happened in a community of 20,000, it and the conversations and events it touched off have affected the entire region, the nation and the world. Here, we recap the events since the shooting and give you the context on a map. Though we can't answer why these events occurred, here's the when and the where of Ferguson.

The neighborhood free outdoor summer concert season is now in full swing. If you know of a free series that isn't on this list, let us know.

Up this week: Griffin & the Gargoyles at Jungle Boogie, Miss Jubilee and the Humdingers at Lafayette Park and Hudson and the Hoo Doo Cats at Carondelet Park. But they aren't the only performers at these neighborhood concerts coming up in the next few days. So check out what's coming this week: